Japan Stocks Retreat at Close; Nikkei 225 Falls by 1.46%

On Friday, Japan stocks closed lower, with losses primarily in the Fishery, Railway & Bus, and Finance & Investment sectors.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 declined by 1.46%.

Among the session’s top performers on the Nikkei 225 were Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., which rose by 5.93% or 81.00 points, closing at 1,446.00. Obayashi Corp. also gained, adding 3.85% or 69.00 points to end at 1,862.50, while Tokyo Tatemono Co., Ltd. saw an increase of 3.73% or 95.00 points, reaching 2,640.50 by late trade.

Conversely, the session’s worst performers included Lasertec Corp, which fell by 2.24% or 960.00 points, closing at 41,970.00. Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. declined by 2.21% or 98.00 points, ending at 4,328.00, and Nippon Yusen K.K dropped by 1.73% or 72.00 points to 4,078.00.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by a ratio of 2868 to 835, with 180 remaining unchanged.

Notably, shares in Tokyo Tatemono Co., Ltd. reached 5-year highs, gaining 3.73% or 95.00 to close at 2,640.50.

The Nikkei Volatility, which gauges the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, increased by 2.99% to 19.28.

In commodities trading, crude oil for May delivery rose by 2.16% or 1.76 to $83.11 a barrel. Brent oil for delivery in June increased by 0.05% or 0.04 to hit $86.99 a barrel, while the June Gold Futures contract rose by 1.90% or 42.10 to trade at $2,254.80 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY saw a slight increase of 0.05% to 151.44, while EUR/JPY fell by 0.06% to 163.15.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up by 0.20% at 104.27.